Journeys›Photograph

Spring Afternoon at the Golden Gate Park Greenhouse

·San Francisco, California·#bay area#family#spring#orchids#greenhouse
A man in an argyle sweater smiles while holding a baby in a carrier inside a glass greenhouse with plants.

A spring afternoon at the greenhouse was the whole plan for this San Francisco trip — the Conservatory of Flowers in Golden Gate Park, which has been standing there since 1879. Oldest building in the park, and supposedly the oldest municipal wooden conservatory left in the country, though from inside you mostly notice how warm it holds. Jackets off within a few minutes of the door.

The baby did the whole visit from the carrier, knitted hat and all, which was probably one layer too many under the glass. She kept her fists up by the straps and stared at everything except whatever we pointed at.

The orchid displays were the best part. Pansy orchids growing in threes against a rock wall, white petals with wine-red blotches and a small yellow throat at the center of each. Around the corner, a Phalaenopsis spray in pink and yellow stripes leaned out from its pot into the walkway, one flower already going soft at the bottom of the stem. We took our time in that room and moved fast through the rest.

A man in an argyle sweater smiles, holding a baby in a knitted hat and bib in a carrier, inside a greenhouse.A cluster of white orchids with deep red and yellow centers in a terracotta pot against a rock wall.Three white and reddish-purple orchids with yellow centers in front of a textured rock wall and a potted plant.Three pink and yellow striped orchids are in the foreground, with a white orchid and green foliage in the background.

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